Hiding your application from the Windows Taskbar.

by Nov 5, 1997

Question:

How do I hide my application from the Windows Taskbar?

Answer:

It is possible to have your application running without an icon appearing in the task bar. Here's how to do this:

  • In Delphi go to the menu option Project -> View Source.
  • Add the Windows unit to the uses clause.
  • Add Application.ShowMainForm := False; to the line after
    "Application.Initialize;".
  • Add: ShowWindow(Application.Handle, SW_HIDE); to the line
    before "Application.Run;"
  • If you still want your form to show then Add: ShowWindow(Form1.Handle, SW_SHOWNORMAL); to the line just before "Application.Run;"

    Your main project source file should now look something like
    this:

    program Project1;
    
    uses
      Windows,
      Forms,
      Unit1 in 'Unit1.pas' {Form1},
      Unit2 in 'Unit2.pas' {Form2};
    
    {$R *.RES}
    
    begin
      Application.Initialize;
      Application.ShowMainForm := False;
      Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
      Application.CreateForm(TForm2, Form2);
      ShowWindow(Application.Handle, SW_HIDE);
      ShowWindow(Form1.Handle, SW_SHOWNORMAL); //Only add this if you want your form to show.
      Application.Run;
    end.
    
  • In the "initialization" section (at the very bottom)
    of each unit that uses a form, add:

    begin
      ShowWindow(Application.Handle, SW_HIDE);
    end.
    

    Article originally contributed by